Slight price hike expected in Algonquin’s switch to Groot

ALGONQUIN – The cost of individual trash pick up stickers is set to slightly increase, while toter service costs will decrease, under a proposed agreement with Groot Industries.

The village in September plans to replace its current trash hauler Waste Management for Groot. Village Board members are scheduled to vote on the new agreement at their meeting Tuesday.

People who use individual stickers to pay for trash collection would see the per sticker rate increase to $2.85 each from $2.55 each this year. There would be 15-cent per sticker increases in 2015, 2016 and 2017. In 2018, there would be a 20-cent increase, bringing the sticker rate to $3.50.

Under the proposed agreement, the toter price will drop from $22.68 a month to $20 a month. It then will increase $1 a year through the end of the contract, which will bring the toter rate to $24 a month.

The annual rate increases will take place on Sept. 1 of each year of the contract.

"As part of the review of [the] Groot Industries proposal, a market analysis was performed and found that Groot's rates were typically lower than the median prices in the Chicago metro area," Assistant Village Manage Mike Kumbera wrote in a memo to Village Board members. "Further, references of Groot's municipal contracts were verified and found to be in good standing."

If approved, the new contract with Groot would run from September of this year through August 2019.

Village officials decided to go with a new hauler because the price with Waste Management was expected to substantially increase, Village Manager Tim Schloneger has said.

Although new pick up days have yet to be finalized for the roughly 10,000 residences that receive garbage collection in the village, Groot has proposed going to two-day a week schedule from the current five-day-a-week schedule.

As part of the new contract, Groot will keep current recycling services the same, and provide document destruction services for residents, according to village documents.

Groot will accept Waste Management stickers for three weeks after the transition and Waste Management will refund stickers for a period of 30 days after the transition, village documents say.